The Hydra Effect
by Pencilwalla
Summary: She's long since forgotten where she ends and he begins."


The Hydra Effect

_**The Hydra Effect**_

**Entry 307, June 2002**

**The following entry defines and expands upon an unintended effect of Arthur Hellsing's experiments 280-306 (sealing). **

**The Hydra Effect: A slow, partial merging of souls between master ad servant caused by long periods of exposure to the bond and/or strong emotional attachment. Said effect includes but is not limited to:**

**Master- exhibiting vampiric abilities, notably eternal youth, enhanced strength/speed/etc., a third eye manifested as the ability to hit targets without seeing them, slight telekinesis**

**Servant- exhibiting the ability to ingest solid foods and non-blood liquids, enhanced mind-reading ability**

**Both parties show an extremely strong awareness of the other's thoughts, feeling, sensations, etc. to the point where it affects comfort. Said awareness is partially conscious (mind can be closed off) and partially subconscious (e.g. dreams)**

**Edit: January 2004**

**The Hydra Effect is progressive. The connection grows stronger over time. After a certain point the bond is no longer breakable and no longer requires maintenance. The Blood Bond Spell is advised to be heavily revised before being used again.**

-**Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing**

--

Over time, they've ceased to be two and become one.

There used to be a defined line, a wall, a cement structure that separated them, but time has worn a hole through it, crushing it, collapsing, grinding it away.

There's no 'he' and 'she'. They are 'they' and there's no question that it's two.

She's long since forgotten where she ends and he begins. Alucard is different, but Alucard is also herself.

They're not two notes of a common chord; they're the same note on a different scale. Middle C and low C.

She can see everything. Every thought, every wish, every dream, every familiar and soul he's devoured. She can see his emotions, his inhuman logic, his monstrous strength like they were written on her eyelids.

And her every fear, even the things she's repressed so far she can't remember their existence, the are all aid bare. She thinks, and she answers. He move, and she adjusts.

They find it's easy to love someone when you know they love you.

--

He finds himself feeling a little jealous. His little girl has grown up, and there's no room for a kind old butler in her life anymore. He used to know her best.

He can't keep up with her anymore, not when she and Alucard exist in perfect harmony, when they've long since forgotten to speak aloud in the presence of others.

How does he compete with her second head? How does he establish their old routine when she no longer follows it? Integra dwells in twilight, in dawns and sunsets, in odd hours he can't predict. She moves in a world apart and yet not apart, following a trail only she can see.

He asks her a question, and Alucard answers, and he stops asking her questions and bringing her tea she'll never drink.

Walter slips into oblivion feeling utterly alone.

--

Seras is a drifter, from here to there, west to east, south to north, looking for something. She goes from family to family, home to home, friend to friend, looking for a place to belong. There is no room for her where her two Masters are; they exist beyond her, their relationship too complex for her to truly understand. It's inhuman.

Pip comes with hr for a time, but he quiets, sleeps, and becomes no more than an extraordinarily moving memory. There aren't many fledglings like her, not many vampires like her, who can still blend with humanity around them. She's accepted that she's still a little human, even if she drinks blood and break concrete with her care hands.

Sir Integra doesn't seem quite human anymore, not when she looks at Master they talk without words, without telepathy.

Humans need people, and those two don't need anyone but each other anymore.

So Seras goes, from here to there, looking for something she can't remember anymore.

--

Perhaps one day she will long for a new liberty. Perhaps one day she will be alone again.

Her love might fade with the next season-for change, even in an unaging body, is her right as a human-, but for now, she sleeps without fear in another's dreams.

--

**Not going to try to explain this one. I felt slightly possessed while writing it; I started it on a whim and with only one line and it spiraled out of control. Feedback is extremely desired in order to increase clarity. Different from my usual, crackfic fare, eh?**


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